








'<K 






*-^.^ 



.< <>*. 



■ /* av "^ • 




Ao^ 






0^ ^ 



v^ ..i.^^ 




-o<*^^ 







.>'" 






■^>. _•? 



C^ **^^ 









A 



.0^ »' 









1; 


-^•^^ 


6^ 


^-^ 


■■■'"0 








1 o 
1 s 


%-&" 







j>^ « " • ♦ *<^ 






.*^\.:«iv-.X .V'^.-k-i:..-^.. .v^\i^.*cv^ .* 








c,o\c:^.*<'o 



4^ o'>S**^'^ 










■' "- y.-^artX ^°*'i-:^'°- ,.*V.--i-..<« 







'■• .* 



.* 
















6 " ,v.' * - ^^ 



"• «^"..V''. -^r 






ACTUAL, ANT) I^ 



PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, ANT) MORilL QUALITIES 




COLORED POPULATION: 



WITH KEMARKS ON THE SUBJECT OF 



"^ EMANCIPATION AND COLONIZATION. 



BY EBENEZER BALDWIN. 



k\ 



O 



' Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." 



NEW HAVEN: L. U. YOUNG. 

THORE & 

1834. 



PRESS OF WHITMORE &. Bi;Uh.»NGHAM. 






"X^i* ^\ •>f^ 



H 



.-*i. 

f- 






V 



[Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1834, by L. H. Youno, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.] 



/fS// 



HI 



V" 



PREFACE 



The following Essay was written several months ago, and before 
any disgraceful scenes, such as those that have recently occurred, 
had tarnished the efforts of philanthropy. As it was designed for 
newspaper publication, it was divided into brief numbers. Although 
he is aware that it has been too carelessly drawn up to bear the test 
of criticism as a literary composition, the writer has been reluctant to 
revise it, lest he might be tempted to infuse into it too mucli of the 
feeling that recent events are calculated to produce. In the hope 
that the historical facts that have been cited in the essay, may have 
a tendency to direct public attention to some rational mode of eleva- 
ting the condition of our colored po]Hilation, the following pages arc 
respectfully submitted for examination. 

Numerous examples of Africans, who have overcome the hard- 
ships of their lot, and risen to moral and intellectual distinction, 
might be added to those here presented. To those who may be cu- 
rious to pursue the subject, the author would particularly commend 
a well written and judicious essay, by Mrs. Carmichael, five years a 
resident in St. Vincent and Trinidad, entitled, " Domestic manners 
and social condition of the white, colored and negro population of the 
West Indies." 

Although the writer has attempted to vindicate the Africans from 
unjust attempts to depress them in the scale of intelligence, he would 
deem it an absurd task to discuss the question, whether in all |)articu- 
lars they are equal in mental powers to the whites. Tliore are na- 



IV PREFACE. 

tional characteristics that distinguish the inhabitants'of different coun- 
tries, although of similar complexion, from each other. Sexes are 
also thus distinguished. Climate operating as well on the mental 
as physical frame, has undoubtedly wrought a difference between 
the black and the white man ; but this difference presents no dis- 
couraging objection to the well directed efforts of the benevolent. 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 
No. I. 



In an age peculiarly iVuittul in schemes of real as well as 
plausible benevolence, it is not surprising that the rewards be- 
stowed on those who have devised practical and well digested 
plans, for advancing the happiness of mankind, should awaken 
the desires of the envious, or influence the passions of the am- 
bitious. And yet there are limits prescribed to the efforts of 
benevolence, arising from physical and moral circumstances, 
that must always be regarded by reformers who hope for ulti- 
mate success. With a realizing view of the glorious results of 
his labors, the discreet philanthropist will not be insensible to 
the many obstacles that must check his career, and will regu- 
late his measures by prudence, and temper his ardor with dis- 
cretion. Although benevolent efforts oftener require a sj)ur 
than a check, there occasioually is exhibited by individuals 
such an overcharged zeal, as to drive the judicious from 
the field of action, and bring reproach and disgrace on I he 
wisest schemes for advancing the happiness of man. 

Among the most important as well as interesting efforts of 
the age, may be noticed with undisguised pleasure, the at- 
tempt to elevate the character of African slaves ; to difiuse 
among them the lights of science and morals ; to pierce through 
the deep gloom that has for ages overshadowed an abused and 
benighted race ; and with the cheering hope of ultimate eman- 
cipation from the double chains that bind the mind in ignorance 
and the body in servitude, to stinmlate tlu^m to efforts that shall 
fit them for a higher destiny, and enable them to take an hon- 
orable rank among the nations of the earth. In this matter, 
liberal and upright men of all political and religious denomin- 
ations can unite in fellowship. The patriot who regards free- 



6 

(]om as tlie greatest earthly blessing, feels a reproof of his pro- 
fessions and principles, when he subjects his fellow man, for 
mercenary purposes, to the degradation of involuntary servi- 
tude ; the religious man, when he questions his conscience, 
seeks in vain for an approving sentence on him who shrouds in 
ignorance an immortal soul, and virtually destroys the period 
of probation vouchsafed in mercy by its creator. The philo- 
sopher, who seeks for an explanation of the existence of a gen- 
eral evil, that is alike condemned by patriotism and religion, is 
compelled to trace it to the worst infirmities that blend in the 
character of man ; to revenge, that feeds in security on the 
sufferings of captive enemies, — to lust of power, but feebly 
checked by the restraints of law, — to love of pleasure and lux- 
urious indolence, — and finally, to greedy avarice, that blunts all 
moral perceptions of the rights of others. Implanted as these 
base passions are, in the very constitution of man, it is not sur- 
prising that slavery has existed in ail ages and in all countries. 
The condition of bondmen, it is true, has been tempered accor- 
ding to the degree of refinement that has characterized the na- 
tions where their lot has been cast; but the mutual obligation 
of slave and master has been matter of frequent recognition, 
bnth in sacred and profane history. The Hebrews, a chosen 
people of the Almight}^ were subjected for ages to the cruelties 
of Egyptian bondage, and after their miraculous escape to the 
promised land, as if forgetful of the sufferings they had endu- 
red, in their turn made slaves of the conquered Canaanites and 
their posterity. Greece and Rome, in their most virtuous as 
well as degenerate days, allowed the existence of slavery in 
its severest and most degrading forms. Indeed their great 
men exhibited in their treatment of slaves, the most revolting 
■^ examples of human cruelty. Cato the elder, is said to have 
ministered to his mercenar}^ a})petite, by hiring out his female 
slaves for the purpose of prostitution ; Plutarch, reputed to be 
a mild and benevolent philosopher, maintained " that a slave 
was incapable of understanding any arguments, except stripes 
and a chain;" Demosthenes, usually the bold and povv'eiuil advo- 
cate of freedom, considered testimony forced out of a slave by 
torture, as the best and highest evidence. 

But why illustrate a fact so generally known by individual 



examples? Every quarter of the globe, no matter wlK'llicr its 
inhabitants be of pagan or christian creed, no matter ot what 
complexion, no matter of what grade in civilization and mtfl- 
ligence, is even now snbjectcd in a greater or less degree, to the 
curse and sin of slavery. In modified forms, it exists in all the 
nations of Europe, or their tributary colonies. It ministers to 
the pomp and luxury of voluptuous Asia ; the barbarous Tm-k 
and the wandering Arab doom their christian captives to the 
most degrading and abject servitude ; the catholics who discov- 
ered and conquered the southern continent of America, made 
slaves of its rightful owners ; and the pilgrims, who planted the 
standard of the cross in the north, did not hesitate to follow the 
degrading example. The American Indians, also, following the 
example of those who have seized upon their domains, have 
carried the children of the pilgrims into captivity, and have also, 
with greater security, become like them, the masters of Afri- 
can slaves.* 

These preliminary remarks have been made, not to palliate 
the evils of slavery, or to justify its continuance, but to reprove 
the intemperate zeal of those, who apparently forget that 
a system that has been permitted in the mysterious ways of 
providence, to exist among all nations and in all ages, is not to 
be broken down by rough and violent denunciation, but is to 
be corrected by the milder influences of reason, education and 

* In allusion to this matter, the author of a very interesting worit, entitled 
"An account of the European settlements in America," said to he the celebra- 
ted Edmund Burke, makes the following just remarks, in referring to the con- 
duct of Columbus and his companions. " This conquest, (says he, alluding to 
the subjugation of Hispaniola,) and the sub.-jcquent ones made by the sovoral 
European nations, with as little of right as consciousness of doing anything 
wrong, gives one just reason to reflect on the notions entertained by mankind in 
all times, concerning the right of dominion. At this period, few doubled the 
power of the pope to convey a full right to any country he was pleased to ciialk 
out ; amongst the laithful, because they are subject to llie church ; and amongst 
infidels, because it was meritorious to make them subject to it. This notion be- 
gan to lose ground at the reformation, but another arose of as bad a tendency; 
the idea of the dominion of grace, which prevailed with sc "cral, and tiie eftects 
of which we have felt amongst ourselves. The Maliomctans' great merit is to 
spread the empire and the faith; and none among them doubt thclogality of sub- 
duing any nation for these good purposes. The Greeks held that the barbarians 
were naturally designed to be their slaves ; and tliis was so general a notion, that 
Aristotle himself, with all his penetration, gave in to it very seriously. In truth 
it has its principle in human nature, for the generality of mankind very readily 
slide from what they conceive a fitness for govenmient, to a right of governing ; 
and they agree, that those who are superior in endowments, should only bo 
equal in condition." 



8 

religion. The advance of just sentiments and the progress of 
cln-istian philanthropy, have already mitigated the severity of 
African slavery, but entire emancipation must be the effect of 
slow and gradual approaches. If immediate and unqualified 
emancipation were attempted, the imagination can hardly pic- 
ture the horrible scenes that would ensue. Servile wars are 
among the most fearful calamities that have ever visited nations. 
The salutary regulations that have by common consent been 
adopted by all civilized countries in their intercom-se, as well 
in war as in peace, have in a great degree mitigated the horrors 
of their national conflicts ; but in servile wars the cup of ca- 
lamity is of intense and unmingled bitterness. Lust, rapine 
and vengeance, unrestrained licentiousness that is deified with 
the name of liberty, the fierce riot of animal passions, impelled 
by minds shrouded in ignorance, and fruitful only in a rank 
and luxuriant growth of the most deforming vices, mark the 
career of self-emancipated slaves ; while the unhappy objects 
of their hatred, are compelled in self defence, and in the protec- 
tion of every object dear to the affections of man, to meet them 
as they would unchained tigers, exulting in their new born 
freedom, and prowling abroad for blood. In such conflicts, 
there is nothing of " pride, pomp and circumstance," to awa- 
ken the ambition of the warrior, — no fields of glory or graves 
of honor to be consecrated by the historian and the poet. 
And yet there are men, either so bewildered in intellect, or so 
reckless in their ambition, as unblushingly to advocate doc- 
trines that tend to such fearfuk results, — men, who although 
professing to march under the sacred banner of philanthropy, 
are yet daily instigating our slave population to the most infa- 
mous and horrible crimes, — men who seem to break forth in 
an impious hallelujah on every fresh instance of a sanguinary 
insurrection. As the consthution of the nation has recognized 
slavery as an evil that could not be lopped ofif by any sudden 
amputation, and has therefore afforded to it sanction and pro- 
tection, and as (owing to their ignorance and unfitness to ex- 
ercise the duties of freemen) every State has, either by its con- 
stitution or practice, virtually disfranchised our African popu- 
lation, it might seem unnecessary to combat doctrines that 
must require a change in the whole system of our federate 



gdvcrninent before they can he adopted. But fanatics, that fix 
their eaj^er gaze only on results, w ilhout reg;irding internjcdi- 
ate measures for then* accomplislinient, that raise the war cry 
of equality and unalienable rights in the dens of ignorance, 
and stimulate brutal jiassion to a warfare against the good, the 
wise, and the virtuous, (for many, as pure as Washington, 
may, even news be enrolled, like hiin, among slave holders ;) 
although they may not fully attain their desires, yet are capa- 
ble of producing dreadful evils both to masters and slaves. 
They may engender hatred, jealousy, and distrust, producing 
sullen obedience on the one side and harsh severity on the 
other, — they may close the avenues to knowledge, by awaken- 
ing apprehensions in masters, that the same learning that would 
enable their slaves to peruse the volumes of inspiration, might 
also be directed to the inflammatory publications of incendiary 
reformers, — in short, they may embarrass, if not defeat, the 
only wise and feasible plan itiat has ever yet been devised for 
the unfortunate sons of Africa ; — gradual colonization in the 
land of their fathers ; with such fostering care in their political 
infancy, as may enable them to occupy eventually an honora- 
ble rank among the moral and intelligent nations of the earth. 
With regard to this plan, it would hardly have been suppos- 
ed, that truly benevolent men should have been arranged in 
hostile attitude against each other, and yet we have rarely 
seen exhibited more vindictive bitterness, than has been shown 
by the advocates of immediate emancipation against the friends 
of colonization. As if education were unnecessary to fit man- 
kind for liberty and self-government, and as if the prejudices 
arising from difference of complexion were to be suddenly 
conquered by a legislative act, the infatuated followers of a 
leading enthusiast are eager to let loose upon our happy coun- 
try, two millions of slaves, without previous education, — with- 
out means of subsistence, — without any stimulants to honora- 
ble ambition ; — a race vitiated and debased by ages of servi- 
tude ; the robust, laboring under moral disabilities, and the 
weak and decrepit superadding physical infirmities. But it is 
in vain to point out the follies of fanaticism ; my intention, 
when 1 commenced these remarks, was, to obviate in some 
measure, an objection urged against the success of the best 



10 

directed ei'foils ol the iiiends of Africa, that tliey are attempt- 
ing to elevate those who are by nature inferior to the whites 
in mental powers and therefore doomed by their Creator to a 
servile condition. In some future paper I shall cite some ex- 
amples to prove the fallacy of tjiis doctrine, and close the pre- 
sent by a quotation from an interesting- work on the treatment 
and conversion of African slaves, published in London by the 
Rev. James Ramsay, in 1784. 

The author says : " When Moses led the children of Israel 
out of Egypt, he was under the necessity of training lliem up 
to be an independent people, by multiplied forms and strict dis- 
cipline, for the space of forty years. And it is apparent, from 
their behavior during this long period, that slavery had so tho- 
roughly debased their minds, as to have rendered them incapa- 
ble of the exertions necessary for their settlement in the pro- 
mised land, till all those who had grown up slaves in Egypt, had 
fallen in the wilderness, and laws and regulations, worthy of a 
free people, had taken place among them." This is a case full 
in point, and may suggest hints worthy of the Legislature. 

Happily, in an altered state of society, and under more be- 
nignant auspices, and especially under the protecting care al- 
ready signally vouchsafed by Providence in advancing the 
prosperity of Liberia, our African population may hope for 
emancipation without experiencing the calamities that befel 
the children of Israel. 



No. II. 



Having, in a preceding brief essay, adverted to the early com- 
mencement of slavery and its existence among all nations at 
different periods of their histories, it was stated to be the inten- 
tion of the writer, to present in a future paper, some historical 
facts in relation to the capacity of Africans for intellectual cul- 
ture. It has often been stated by intelligent men, that it w^ns 
impossible to elevate that unfortunate race to a respectable 
rank among civilized nations — that they were formed by their 
Creator to occupy a secondary grade in the human family, and 
destined, from their limited mental powers, to servile stations. 



11 

Tills sentiiiKnt has not only boon ohoiislicd hy niorronary slave 
holders, and those who wore intoreslod in the unholy IralTic, 
that is now, by the consent of civilized nations, pronounced 
piracy, but by disinterested ni(;n of reputed benevolence, who 
have formed a hasty opinion of a whole race, by surveying the 
conditions of those, who iiaving for ages JDeon sulloring under 
task masters, exhibit in their charactcMs tlio debasing influence 
of ignorance, vice and hopeless servitude. Singular and un- 
just reasoning ! that would thus jjalliate the continuance of 
cruelty, because past infliction had deadened the sensibilities 
and i)arali/,cd the energies of its victims ! Trobably the intel- 
lectual powers sink more rapidly tlian mere animal strength 
under the influence of slavery, as, were it even j^ssiblc for 
slaves to procure the means of mental improvement, knowl- 
edge would be comparatively useless to those, who are regula- 
ted by the caprice of others, and an increase of intelligence 
would only embitter their existence, by enabling them to real- 
ize with more acute perception, lh« extent of their calamity 
and the hopelessness of their lot. Hence it is, that even edu- 
cated Christians, who are made captives by barbarous and 
pagan nations, either sink into imbecility, or seek a relief from 
sufiCering, by an abjuration of their religion. Probably after 
the influence of slavery has thoroughly tainted its victims, 
neither the circumstance of national birth, or of parentage, or 
of complexion, will furnish any means of moral or intellectual 
classification. 

Those who believe in the scriptural history, must admit that 
all mankind are kindred, and of a common parentage, as well 
in their descent from Adam as in their equal degree of relation- 
ship to Noah. It is true that some philosophers have attempt- 
ed to account for the apparently diflferent species of mankind, 
without denying the existence of the deluge, by supposing that 
it was not general, but bounded by the visible horizon, and 
therefore did not in reality overwhelm all nations and tribes. 
If this unsupported and fanciful hypothesis was true, it might 
prove too much, as it would appear that the colored inhabit- 
ants of the earth were in those days more virtuous and deserv- 
ing of divine favor than the whites, and that while the latter 
were swept from the earth for their abominations, the former 



12 

were mercifuJiy preserved. But without dwelling further on 
this idle speculation, it may be remarked, that we have no 
proof but that Adam and Noah were both colored men ;* an 
analogy to the brute creation would certainly favor the idea, 
as comparatively but k\v animals are white. Living as they 
both did, in warm climates, Adam for nine hundred and thirty 
years, and Noah for nine hundred and fifty, it is certain, if the 
doctrine be true that color is the effect of climate, that even if 
white in infancy, tliey must liave been dark colored in their lat- 
ter years. The late learned Doctor Smith, of Nassau College, 
in an ingenious essay, has attempted to prove that a visible 
alteration had taken place in the complexions of our slave 
population since their African ancestors were brought to 
America, and that after the lapse of a few more ages the 
change will be radical and complete. Be this as it may, it is 
certainly a matter of more important desire to the philanthro- 

* Willi regard to incjudice arising from difi'crence of coinplcxion, it is reniarka- 
ble that it has existed from tlie remotest agos. One scriptural passage illustra- 
tive of tlie suhjoct, is too ititeresting, in connection with tliis essay, to bo omitted. 
In the " Song of Solomon," intended to express, according to the uniform 
opinion of commentators, the perfect love existing between the Saviour and his 
church, by "allegories and parables," Jesus Christ it; represented under the 
similitude of a bridegroom, and the clmrcli as his bride. In confessing her 
defects, the bride says : 

" I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, 
as the curtains of Solomon." 

"Look not upon me because I am black, because the snn hatli looked upon 
me : my mother's children were angry with me ; they made me the keeper of the 
vineyard ; but my own vineyard have I not kept. Chap. i. v. 5, 6. 

In a subsequent description of Christ by liis graces, it is said : 

" My beloved is white and rudd}', the chiefest among ten thousand. 

" His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy and black as a raven. 

" His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed With milk, 
and fitly set," &c. Chap. v. v. 10, 11, 12. 

Although the language used in the above and oliier similar descriptive passa- 
ges of the song are allegorical, yet be to appostlf, and forcible, they must have 
been suited to the prevailing opinions and tasit of the age. Three inforencea 
may be derived from them : 

1st. That prejudices existed against colored people during the age of Solomon. 
2d. That color or complexion is t)>o etFect of climate. 3d. That the Saviour 
was, in his human form, white. If the latter inference is correct, a divine of 
some celebrity in a neigliboring state, has not only violated popular feeling, 
respectuig the appearance of the Saviour in bis incarnation, but has violated 
Scriptural testimony in advancing iiis idle speculations. Indeed, so far as the 
outward appearance of the Saviour in his human form is concerned, we have the 
authority of Publius, the Roman Proconsul of Judea, for believing, tliat it was 
remarkable for purity and whiteness of skin, blue eyes, flowing hair, &.c. His- 
torical painters who have employed tlieir pencils on sacred subjects, have adopt. 
ed the minute description of Publius as their guide, in exhibiting the features of 
the Saviour. 



plst, that the (lark cloud wliicli ovcrslindows flicir minds slioiild 
be dissipated, and that the day sprinjr of intellectual li^dit should 
beam on their benighted vision, ihan that any alteration should 
be vvrouirht in their ph\ sical appearance. Jiesides, the stand- 
ard of beauty is somewhat cai)ri(ious and arbitrary, and from 
the milk white Albino to the dark skinned Ethiopian, there is 
no shade of color that has not its advocates. It is probabK.' 
that Haiuiibal, who carried terror lo the gates of Rome, was :i 
colored chief, and that even Dido, the Carthaginian queen, 
whose charms for a while seduced .^^.neas from the path of 
duty, bore the characteristic marks of African descent. 'J'he 
scattered tribes of Israel are of all hues, though of unmixed 
blood and a kindred race. But leaving the consideration of 
mere color, are there any other physical properties that mark 
the negro as inferior lo the white ? Tb.ey have not flowing 
locks, nor yet the golden or red hair that rendered the Grecian 
beauties so conspicuous, — they have not Roman noses, but 
they have dark rolling eyes that an Italian migiit envy, — they 
do not, by artificial pressure, flatten their heads like some tribes • 
of Indians, or slit their ears and noses, and ornament the hang- 
ing cartilage with rings and colored quills, nor squeeze their 
feet into the size of nut cakes, like the Chinese women, those 
daughters of the celestial empire ; — they do not compress their 
forms into the shape of an hour glass, injuring the spine and 
destroying bodily strength, like European and .American la- 
dies ; it is presumed they rarely wear wigs or artificial curls, 
and never have occasion for false teeth ; thee and a thousand 
other fashions that are found in more civilized and polished 
countries, the Africans do not follow in their native land, al- 
though in a state of slavery many arc found emulous of imita- 
tion. But notwithstanding their deficiencies in these j)articu- 
lars, Africans seem at least equal, according to their advanta- 
ges, to the whites. It has often been remarked, that in our i^ 
elementary schools, where, as is often the case, one or two 
colored children are found in the list of pupils, they generally 
take a good rank as scholars, and ar(^ favorite leaders of their 
companions in all their amusements. W hether this influence 
is to be traced to the earlier ripening of African intellect, or to 
other causes, I do not know ; but its existence certainly shows 



14 

that repugnance to Africans arises from the prejuchces of 
education rather than from natural antipathy. As the time 
allowed them for learning is very limited, we have not the 
means of judging as to tlieir capacity for protracted improve- 
ment. It is certainly unjust to pass judgment on the in- 
tellectual powers of a nation that is suffering under the sever- 
est visitations of the Almighty. Could one of the children of 
Israel (that chosen and favored nation) who was gathered to 
his fathers, when his country, in the pride of wealth and con- 
sciousness of physical and intellectual greatness, looked down 
with contemptuous pride on the Gentile world, awake from the 
sleep of the grave, would he recognize in the dispersed and de- 
graded wanderers of those powerful tribes, the descendants of 
Judea ? Would a Roman senator trace any lineaments of his 
illustrious countrymen, in enervated and voluptuous Italy, — its 
inhabitants sunk in superstition, the mere showmen of the ruins 
of ancient glory, and traffickers in the mutilated memorials of 
ancient taste ? Would a Lacedemonian, or a Spartan, or an 
Athenian, find in the debased slaves of Turkish cruelty, in a 
second race of Helots, the descendants of enlightened and pow- 
erful Greece? How would the Egyptian mourn over the van- 
ity of human glory, when he beheld only a few scattered Ma- 
melukes and wandering- Arabs, listlessly reposing in the shadow 
of the pyramids? If such be the mutations of empires — if 
such the fate of the most enlightened nations, is not philanthro- 
py taught the impiessive lesson, that degradation is not proof 
of incapacity, and that well directed benevolence may repair 
the ravages of misfortune and crime ? In ancient days, Africa 
could boast of arts and science, of opulent cities, and powerful 
empires ; and is it not worthy of Christian zeal, to gather the 
remnants of an unfortunate race, to enlighten and purify their 
minds, to plant them in the distant habitations of their fathers, 
and under the influence of benignant laws and a pure religion, 
to elevate them to substantial and permanent national happi- 
ness. In this way, and in this way only, can Christendom in a 
measure atone for her criminal participation in the injustice 
done to Africa. But the querulous sceptic may still cry out, 
give us some proof, that Africans are capable of being eleva- 
ted in rank ; cite instances of their having overcome the hard- 



15 

ships of their lot, and exhibilod examples of elevated virtues or 
bright talents. Protesting against tiie propriety of the call, 
under the circiimslanccs in which Africans are placed, and 
contending that the hurtlion of i)roof ought justly to be im|)os- 
ed on those who assert their natural incompetency, some few 
examples will be stated to support the opinions that have been 
advanced. ]f 1 mistake not greatly in my estimate of African 
capacity, the sentiment of Terence expressed with singular 
beauty and pathos, will be found to be strictly correct. " Homo 
sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." When these words 
were uttered in a Roman theatre, we are informed, that "plau- 
dits were reiterated, and the audience, though composed of 
foreigners, conquered nations, aliens, and citizens of Rome, 
were unanimous in applauding the poet, who spoke with such 
elegance and simplicity, the language of nature, and supported 
the native independence of man." And yet this same Terence 
was an African slave, educated by a kind master, and who at- 
tained such eminence as a writer of comedies, that although 
he died at an early age, Quinlilian, one of the best critics of 
classical literature, does not hesitate to declare, that " he was 
the most elegant and refined of all the comedians whose wri- 
tings appeared on the stage." 

This subject will be continued in a future nund)er. 



No. III. 



In citing a few recorded facts, in proof of the correctness of 
the sentiment of Terence, quoted in my last number, in its ap- 
plication to Africans, I shall rather confine myself to the moral 
and intellectual, than the physical properties of man. Were 
it necessary to prove an equality of bodily powers as illustra- 
tive of mental equality, the arduous labor performed by Afri- 
can slaves, though suffering under the pressure of dejected 
spirits, coarse diet, and scanty clothing, would seem to furnish 
sufficient evidence. But it cannot be supposed that the fearless 
hunters, who in their native land attack the lion in his rage and 
rouse the tiger from his lair, are deficient in physical energy. 
In the only field, where the vitiated taste of England has ena- 



16 

bled Ihetn to contend on equal terms with wiiite men, (1 allude 
lu pugilistic combats,) the celebrated Pierce Egan, the chrono- 
cler of the ring, has assigned them the honor of establishing a 
new era in the art, which he designates as the " sahle scJiooV 
of pugilism. The champions of this school, or as they are 
classical!}^ styled, the " Tria Lumina,'''' were Richmond, Mo- 
lineaux, and Sutton, of whom it may be observed in this con- 
nection, that Richmond was a native of Staten Island, New 
York, and slave of the Rev. Mr. Charleton of that place, Mo- 
lineaux belonged to the Cuyler family at Greenbush, in the 
vsame state, and that the birth place and early condition of Sut- 
ton are unknown. But perhaps enough has been said of the 
physical properties of Africans ; — let us view them in their 
nobler capacities. Our illustrations will be principally of 
American extract. 

POETRY. 

Although the highest efforts of poetry must be the result of 
education and refinement, and but little inclination for the ex- 
ercise of the imagination and fancy, is felt by those who are 
bowed down by servitude and oppression, the African slave 
may point to at least one minstrel of his nation who did not 
despondingly hang her harp upon the willows, but solaced the 
weariness of captivity by the cultivation of the muse. It need 
hardly be added that allusion is made to Phillis the negro slave 
of John Wheatley, of Boston. "Phillis was brought from 
Africa to America in the year 1761, being then between seven 
>SL and eight years of age." Her schooling was confined to the 
domestic teaching of her master's family, and yet so rapid 
was her advance in learning, that she not only became soon 
acquainted with the usual branches of an English education, 
but had made progress in the Latin tongue, and had rendered 
herself somewhat familiar with the ancient classics. In her 
nineteenth year she published, at the urgent request of her 
friends, a small volume of her poems. A certificate as to her 
talents and ability as a writer, signed by the Governor, Lieu- 
tenant Governor, and principal men, both civil and ecclesiasti- 
cal, of the colony, accompanied the work, lest the incredulous 



17 

niiglit feel inclined lo doubt its autliorship. It ritli:u-:(d niiK li 
public attention and has passed through several (ulitions. 'J'iie 
versification of Thillis is easy and graceful, her imagery a;)- 
propriate, and her sentiments refined. It may be said l)y some, 
that a single example cannot prove a rule, anti that Phillis falls 
within the satirical remark of Ovid, 

" Rara avis in tcrris et Kimilliina niffro Cygiio,"' 

to which 1 shall content myself by replying, that until a white 
girl, laboring under the like embarrassments, is pointed out, 
who has written at the same age as much and as good poetry 
as Phillis, I shall claim a verdict on her testimony alone. 
This gifted female married a man of her own color, and died 
in the year 178U, at the age of thirty-one years.* 1 close this 
notice with a copy of a letter addressed to her by General 
Washington, taken from Mr. Spark's valuable collection of the 
political and private correspondence of that great man. It 
does equal honor to the benevolence of his feelings, and to the 
character of Phillis. 

" TO MISS PHILLIS WHEATLEY. 

" Cainbridge, 2Sth February, 1776. 
" Miss Phillis, — 

" Your favor of the 26th of October, did not reach my hands 
till the middle of December. Time enough you will sa}^ to 
have given you an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety 
of important occurrences continually interposing, to distract 
the mind and withdraw the attention, I hope will apologize for 
the delay, and plead my excuse for the seeming but not real 
neglect. I thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of 
me, in the elegant lines you enclosed ; and however undeserv- 
ing I may be of such encomium and panegyric, the st3de and 
manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetical talents ; in 
honor of which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would 
have published the poem, had 1 not been apprehensive, that, 

* It is said by some writer* that the husl>jn<I of Phillis was altogether un- 
worthy of her, and that she died of a broken heart; he was however possessed 
of talents, having been successively engaged in the business of a grocer and 
lawyer, in which latter occupation he was known as Doctor Peter, and by his 
efforts in the courts in behalf of his brethren, is said to have acquired a fortune. 

3 



18 

while I only meant to give the world this new instance of 
your genius, I might have incurred the imputation of vanity. 
This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it place in 
the public prints.* 

" If you can come to Cambridge, or near head quarters, 1 
shall be happy to see a person so favored by the muses, and to 
whom nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispen- 
sations. I am, with great respect, your obedient humble ser- 
vant, G. WASHINGTON." 

An additional proof of the estimation in which the talents 
of Philhs were held by learned contemporaries, may be derived 
from the correspondence of the Rev. J Lathrop, a distin- 
guished clergyman of Boston, who married a daughter of her 
mistress, Mrs. VVheatley. In a manuscript letter now in the 
possession of the writer, addressed to a clerical friend in Con- 
necticut, bearing date " Boston Aug. 14, 1773," he thus 
speaks of Phillis, in reply to some remarks of his friend. "Yes 
Sir, the famous negro poet, Phillis, is a servant of Mrs. La- 
throp's mother : she is indeed a singular genius. Mrs. Lathrop 
taught her to read, and by seeing others use the pen, she learn- 
ed to write : she early discovered a turn for poetry, and being 
indulged to read and furnish her mind, she does now, and will, 
if she lives, make a considerable figure in the poetical way. 
She is now in London with my Lady Huntington, &,c. I 
wish her going to England may do her no hurt." 
\ We have observed a notice in the American Museum, that a 
negro man named Cesar, of North Carolina, was the author 
of a collection of poems that were published. It is said that 
they attained a popularity " like those of Bloomfield." We 
have never seen them, but presume from the comparison, that 
they were characterized by simplicity, purity and natural grace. 

MUSIC AND PAINTING. 

The remarks made respecting poetry will apply with equal 
propriety to all ornamental branches of learning, as even if 

* Although Gen. Washington was restrained hy motives of delicacy from 
printing this address, it found its way to the public through some other agency, 
shortly after it was presented. It can be found in the Philadelphia Magazine. 
The circumstance is noted, as it has not appeared in any edition of the works of 
Phillis, and is well worthy of perusal. 



\ 



19 

taste and genius were possessed in a iiigh degree, the udvanta-, 
ges of culture would be incompatible with a slate of servitude. 
Among the poems of Phillis W heatley, is one addressed to 
" S. M. a young African painter/' who appears also, from the 
following extract, to have unitedto his skill as an artist, the gift 
of poetry. 

" Still, wond'rous youtli I each noblo path pursue ; 
On deathless glories lix thine ardent view : 
Still may the painter's and the poet's fire. 
To aid thy pencil and tliy verse conspire I" 

In music, it is believed that Africans have exhibited more 
decided marks of general or national taste than exists among 
the whites. It is true they have but little of the artificial skill 
that is found at an Italian opera, and therefore would not be 
highly acceptable in their performances, to amateurs of such 
cultivated sensibility as can onl}^ be gratified by unnatural 
sounds, of difficult modulation, uttered in an unknown tongue. 
Still they have almost individually a correct car, and a just and 
discriminating perception of the powers of music. The rudest 
of them, without teaching, whistle, and sing, and play on the 
jews-harp and banjo, and with a little practice master that dif- 
ficult instrument, the violin. With the advantages of instruction, 
they have formed many superior bands, and are much patroni- 
zed for their, skill in our larger cities. Their vocal powers have 
not been so fully developed by education, but I have understood 
that the late Doctor Strong, of Hartford, encouraged the color- 
ed members of his congregation to learn church music on cor- 
rect principles, and that they attained to distinguished excel- 
lence as singers. 

PROFESSIONS OF LAW, MEDICINE, AND DIVINITY. 

As the condition of a slave population excludes them from 
any participation in the administration or exposition of the 
laws, or the regular practice of the healing art, we shall con- 
tent ourselves with some brief remarks on the capacity of 
Africans for the performance of clerical duties. Two or three 
brothers of the name of Paul, have for several years main- 
tained a respectable rank in the desk, and the Rev. Mr. Haines, 
a colored man, was for many years the faithful pastor of the 



20 

Presbyterian clmrcli in Manchester, Vermont, composed of a 
society among the most respectable and intelligent in the state. 
Mr. Haines, in his printed sermons, has evinced evidence of his 
talents as a good writer, close reasoner and an able theologian. 
Similar examples under this division of our essay might be 
greatly multiplied, but it may be sufficient to remark, that the 
services of our African churches are generally conducted by 
colored teachers with singular correctness and propriety. As 
to their capacity for religious attainments, I will quote an an- 
ecdote related of the amiable and learned Doctor Stiles, for- 
merly president of Yale College. He had in his employ a 
freedman, formerly his slave, by the name of Newport, who 
must doubtless be well remembered by many of our citizens. 
As the Doctor " was returning from the chapel, on a Lord's 
day, after the communion, not long before his death, seeing 
this domestic walking home from the same sacred service, 
'There,' said he, 'is Newport; if he dies as he has lived, I 
would rather die Newport, than Aurengzebe.' " 

Since writing the preceding remarks, an account of James 
Derham, originally a slave in Philadelphia, but subsequently 
purchased by a physician in New Orleans, has attracted our 
notice. His master in New Orleans was Doctor Robert Dove, 
under whose fostering care he became familiar with several 
languages, speaking with facility, English, French and Span- 
ish. It is said that at the age of twenty-one years, " he be- 
came the most distinguished physician at New Orleans." 
Doctor Rush says that " he conversed with him on medicine, 
and found him very learned. 1 thought 1 could give him in- 
formation concerning the treatment of diseases, but 1 learned 
more from him than he could expect from me." 

Buchan, in his Domestic Medicine, (Hartford edition, 1799, 
page 540,) after giving directions for the preparation of a rem- 
edy said to be effectual for the bite of a rattle-snake, makes 
this remark : " We give this upon the faith of Dr. Brooks, 
who says it was the invention of a negro ; for the discovery 
of which he had his freedom purchased, and a hundred pounds 
per annum settled upon him during life, by the General Assem- 
bly of Carolina." This reward, we may add, was certainly as 



21 

well applied, as was the sum of a lliousaiKl dollars, appropria- 
ted a few years ago, by the enlightened Legislature of New 
York, to purchase of a white German Doctor, by the name of 
Grouse, commonly called, " the mat tog toctor,'' his secret re- 
medy for the hydrophobia, which, on being disclosed and filed in 
the public archives, was found to consist, of " the filings of a 
Queen-Ann's copper dissolved in acid, a false tongue of a colt, 
sundry wild plants, gathered with special regard to dew and 
moon, together with other witch compounds, that have esca- 
ped recollection. 



No. IV. 

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND MATHEMATICS. 

Adhering to the plan originally stated, of elucidating our sub- 
ject by examples chiefly derived from American sources, we 
shall content ourselves by citing under this branch of inquiry, 
only two remarkable instances of African talents. 

In the American Museum, published several years ago by 
Matthew Carey, in Philadelphia, an interesting account, at- 
tributed to Doctor Rush, was published of Thomas Fuller, an 
African by birth, who resided near Alexandria in Virginia. 
An obituary notice of him was subsequently published, which 
was perused by the writer a few days ago, but as he does not 
distinctly recollect in what file of papers he observed it, he 
quotes from memory some of the particulars. Fuller was re- 
markable for accuracy and quickness in tlie solution of mathe- 
matical questions, and as he could neither read nor write, he 
depended solely on a system of mental arithmetic of his own 
invention, in his calculations. His results were accurate and 
were produced as rapidly as those of Mr. Zerah Colburn ; it 
is probable by the same process, although he was unable to ex- 
plain it, nor has Mr. Colburn rendered the matter very intel- 
ligible to all. It is said that Fuller, after learning the powers of 
numbers, commenced his self-education, by counting the hairs 
on the tail of a horse that was his companion in field labor. 
He soon devised some new process, by which the time occupi- 



22 

cd in usual modes of calculation could be shortened, and in the 
end attained such skill and accuracy, as to solve the most diffi- 
cult questions. Among others that were propounded to him, 
it is said that he was asked " how many seconds of time had 
elapsed since the birth of an individual, who had lived seventy 
years, seven months and as many days ?" In a minute and a 
half he answered the question. After a long calculation with 
the pen one of his interrogators pretended that Fuller was in- 
accurate. " No," replied Fuller, " the error is on your side, 
for you have forgotten the leap years," which proved to be 
the case. He was at that time seventy years of age. My be- 
lief is that he died in or near Richmond, in Virginia, and that 
he was the same colored man of whom it was said in an obitu- 
ary notice, that he could solve the most difficult questions in 
relation to time, distance or measurement, and that so tena- 
cious was his memory that he multiplied, during one of his ex- 
aminations, the figure seven by itself and its successive pro- 
ducts by each other seven times. One remarkable fact is 
added, which proves the singular strength of his memory ; — 
that when interrupted during the progress of a long and diffi- 
cult calculation, by having his attention directed to other mat- 
ters, he was able to resume his work at the place where he left 
off, without commencing anew. 

Having thus briefly noticed the mathematical talents of 
Thomas Fuller, we will endeavor to do better justice to Ben. 
jamin Banniker, by the re-publication of his very interesting 
letter to Mr. Jefferson, when Secretary of State, and the hand- 
some reply of that gentleman. The two letters may be found 
in the Virginia Gazette, and also in the Connecticut Journal of 
1792. 

" Marvland, Baltimore County, > 
Near Ellicott's lower Mills, Aug. 1791. I 

*' To Thomas Jefferson, Esq. 

" Sir, — 1 am fully convinced of the greatness of that freedom 
which I take with you on the piiisent occasion : a liberty which 
seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that dis- 
tinguished and dignified station in which you stand ; and the 
almost general prejudice and prepossession which is so preva- 
lent in the world against those of my complexion. 



2.'? 

"1 suppose it is ii tiulli too well attested to you, to lu-ed ;i 
proof, that we are a race of beings who have long labored 
under the abuse and censure of the world, that we have; long 
been looked upon with an eye of contempt ; considered rather 
as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endow- 
ments. 

" I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of that reports 
which hath reached me, that 3 ou are a man far less inflexible 
in sentiments of this nature, than many others, that you are 
measurcably friendly and well disposed towards us, and that 
you are willing and ready to lend your aid and assistance to 
our relief from those many distresses and numerous calamities 
to which w^e are reduced. 

" Now, sir, if this be founded in truth, I apprehend you will 
readily embrace every opportunity, to eradicate that train of 
absurd and false ideas and opinions which so generally prevail 
in respect to us, and that your sentiments are concurrent with 
mine, which are, that one universal P'ather hath given being to 
us all, and that he hath not only made us of one flesh, but that 
he hath also, without partiality, afforded us all the same sensa- 
tions, and endued us all with the same faculties, and that how- 
ever variable we may be, in society or religion, however diver- 
sified in situation or color, we are all of the same family, and 
stand in the same relation to him. 

"If these are sentiments of which you are fully persuaded, 
I hope you cannot but acknowledge, that it is the indispensable 
duty of those who maintain for themselves the rights of human 
nature, and who profess the obligations of Christianity, to ex- 
tend their power and influence to the rehef of every part of 
the human race, from whatever burthen or oppression they 
may unjustly labor under, and this I apprehend a full conviction 
of the truth and obligation to these principles should lead us 
all to. 

" Sir, I have long been convinced, that if your love for your- 
selves, and those inestimable laws which preserve to you the 
rights of human nature, was founded on sincerity, you could 
not but be solicitous, that every individual,of whatever rank or 
distinction, might with you equally" enjoy the blessings there- 
of; neither could you rest satisfied, short of the most active 



24 

diffusion of your exertions, in order to their promotion from 
any state of degradation to which the unjustifiable cruelty and 
barbarism of men may have retluced them. 

" J freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the Afri- 
can race, and in that color which is natural to them of the deep- 
est dye, and it is under a sense of the most profound gratitude 
to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, that I now confess to 
you, that 1 am not under that state of tyrannical thraldom and 
inhuman captivity, to which too many of my brethren are 
doomed, but that I have abundantly tasted of the fruition of 
those blessings which proceed from that free and unquahfied 
liberty with which you are favored, and which 1 hope you will 
willingly allow you have received from the immediate hand of 
that Being from wiiom proceedeth every good and perfect gift. 

" Suffer me to call to your mind that time, in which the arms 
and tyranny of the British crown were exerted with every 
powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude; 
look back, I entreat you, on the variety of dangers to which 
you were exposed ; reflect on the time in which every human 
aid appeared unavailable, and in which even hope and fortitude 
wore the aspect of inability to the conflict ; and you cannot but 
be led to a serious and grateful sense of your miraculous 
and providential preservation ; you cannot but acknowledge, 
that the present freedom and tranquillity which you enjoy, 
you have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar bless- 
ing of Heaven. 

" This, sir, was a time, when you clearly saw into the injus- 
tice of a state of slavery, and in which you had just apprehen- 
sions of the horrors of its condition. It was now that your abhor- 
rence thereof was so excited, that you publicly held forth this 
true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be remember- 
ed in all succeeding ages : ' We hold these truths to be self- 
evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' 

" Here was a time in which your tender feelings for your- 
selves had engaged you thus to declare, you were then impres- 
sed with proper ideas of the great violation of liberty, and the 
free possession of those blessings to which you were entitled 



'2D 



by nature ; but sir, how pitiable it is to rellect, tli:it although 
you were so fully convinced of tlie benevolence of the Father 
of mankind, and of hiscfjual and impartial distiiijulion of those 
rights and privileges which ho had coiifciicd uikjii ihcni, that 
you should at the same time counteract his mercies, in detain- 
ing by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren 
under groaning captivity and cruel oppression ; that you should 
at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, 
which you professedly detected in others, with respect to your- 
selves. 

" I suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my 
brethren is too extensive to need a recital here; neither shall 
I presume to prescribe methods by which the}' may be relieved, 
otherwise than by recommending to you and all others, to 
wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have 
imbibed with respect to them, and as Job proposed to his 
friends, 'put your soul in their souPs stead ;' thus shall your 
hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards 
them, and thus shall you need neither the direction of myself 
or others in what manner to proceed herein. 

"And now, sir, although my sympathy and affection for my 
brethren hath caused my enlargement thus far, 1 ardently hope 
that your candor and generosity will plead with you in my be- 
half, when I make known to you, that it was not originally my 
design ; but having taken up my pen in order to direct to you 
as a present, a copy of an Almanac, which I have calculated 
for the succeeding year, I w as unexpectedly and unavoidably 
led thereto. 

"This calculation is the production of my arduous study in 
this my advanced stage of life, (fiftj^-nine ;) for having long had 
unbounded desires to become acquainted with the secrets of 
nature, 1 have had to gratify my curiosity herein through my 
own assiduous application to astronomical study, in which I 
need not recount to you the many difficulties and disadvanta- 
ges which I have had to encounter. 

" And although I had almost declined to make my calcula- 
tion for the ensuing year, in consequence of that time Vv Iiicli I 
had allotted therefor being taken up at the Federal Territory 
by the request of Mr. Andrew EUicott, yet finding myself under 

4 



26 

several engagements to [)i inters of lliis state^ to whom 1 had 
communicated my design, on my return to my place of resi- 
dence, 1 industriously applied myself thereto, which I hope I 
have accomplished with correctness and accuracy, a copy of 
which 1 have taken the liherty to direct to you, and which 1 
humbly request you will favorably receive, and although you 
may have the opportunity of perusing it after its publication, 
yet I choose to send it to you in manuscript previous thereto, 
that thereby you might not only have an earher inspection, 
but that you might also view it in my own hand-writing, 

" And now, sir, I shall conclude, and subscribe myself, with 
the most profound respect, your most obedient, humble servant, 

BENJAMIN BANNIKER." 

The following is the admirable reply of Mr. Jefferson, evinc- 
ing the zeal of a generous philanthropy, tempered with the 
prudence and justice, befitting a statesman. 

" TO MR. BENJAMIN BANNIKER. 

" PJdladelpIda, August 30, 1791. 

" SiR,~l thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th inst. 
and for the Almanac it contained. Nobody wishes more than 
I do, to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given 
to our black brethren talents equal to those of the other colors 
of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing 
merely to the degraded condition of their existence both in Af- 
rica and America, i can add with truth, that nobody M'lshes 
more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the 
condition both of their body and minds to what it ought to be, 
as fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and other 
circumstances which cannot be overlooked, will admit. 

" I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to 
Mons. de Condozette, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences 
at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic Society, because I 
considered it as a document to which your whole color had a 
right for their justification, against the documents which have 
been entertained of them. 

" I am, with great esteem, sir, your most obedient humble 
servant, THOMAS JEFFERSON." 



27 

Tliis letter rerlninly <loes not support the (lce!;irrili(ms of II. 
Gregoirc and I inlay, that Mr. .Kiirerson enterlaiiicd slron/_r 
prejudices and very erroneous opinions in re<j-ard to nc^/roes. 
Experience and reflection may iiavt; chanued sentiments that 
influenced him in early life, but no statesman was ever more 
singularly defeated in his endeavors to give a public and oHi- 
cial expression of his views on great national subjects affecting 
their interests. I allude to two memoraljle occasions. In the 
original draft of the Declaration of Jndependeuce prepared by 
Mr. Jefferson, and presented to Congress for approval, are 
contained these memorable words ; — in alluding to the op- 
pressive acts of the British monarch, he says, " He has waged 
war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights 
of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people, who never 
offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery, in 
another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their trans- 
portation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobium of 
infidel powers, is the warfare of a christian king of Great 
Britain. Determined to keep open a market where men 
should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for 
suppressing every attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable 
commerce ; and that this assemblage of horrors might want 
no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very 
people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty 
of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon 
whom he also obtruded them ; thus paying off former crimes 
committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes 
which he urges them to commit against the lives of another." 

These forcible expressions were stricken out by Congress 
from prudential motives, as they felt bound to regard in those 
perilous times, not only the just sentiments but the conflicting 
prejudices of the people. The principles of Mr. Jefferson, 
however, remained unaltered, and in the year 1784, " being 
appointed chairman of a committee, to which was assigned 
the task of forming a plan for the temporary government of 
the Western Territory, he introduced into it the following 
clause : ' That after the year 1800 of the Christian a-ra, there 
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the" 
Said states, otherw^ise than in punishment of crimes, whereof 



28 

llie party shall have been convicted to have been personally 
guilty.' " When the report of the committee was presented 
to Congress, these words were struck out. The above re- 
markable flicts are stated in the biography of Mr, Jefferson, in- 
serted in Sanderson's Lives of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. They fully justify the comment of his biog- 
rapher, who eulogizes his philanthropy, " in the delineation of 
the character, the fidelity, the kindly feelings of the enslaved 
negro race, whose champion he had ever been, alike in the 
times of colonial subjection, and of established freedom." 

But in defending the character of Mr. Jefferson from the 
erroneous though undoubtedly honest attacks of some respect- 
able writers, 1 have been perhaps in some measure led astray 
from my purpose and dwelttoo long on the subject. 

If disposed to vindicate African capacity, for mathematical 
and philosophical pursuits, by passing beyond the examples 
already quoted, I should feel much inclined to copy in full an 
interesting account given by Mr. Gregoire of Anthony fVilUam 
Ano, who was born in Guinea and educated in Germany. 
The following summary may suffice. " Ano was skilled in 
the knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, and deliver- 
ed profound and learned lectures on philosophy." The univer- 
sity of Witteraberg were so impressed with a sense of " his 
good conduct and talents," that they gave " a public testimony 
of these in a letter of felicitation." He is named in a letter 
addressed to him by the President, " Fir nobiUislme et claris- 
sime.'''' He was subsequently appointed a professor. That 
Ano was influenced by no false shame in regard to his origin 
and color, is manifest from the manner in which he designates 
himself in the title pages of his several publications, — " Autor 
Ant. Guil. Ano, Guinea — afer." This learned man eventually 
received the highest literary honor and was created a Doctor 
of Laws, — a distinction in his case, based on merit, creditable 
to (he German university that awarded it, and presenting an 
example, an imitation of which, in conferring diplomas, would 
not disparage the cautious practice and sound discrimination of 
the oldest and best endowed of our American colleges. 



29 

No. V. 

PATRIOTISM, OR I.OVK OF COUNTRY. 

Singular as it may appear, the virtue of patriotism lias been 
strikingly manifested by /\fricans, and the history of the Amer- 
ican republic, exhibits frequent instances of their aid, in achiev- 
ing our independence, and of their fearlessness in sustaining 
the rights of those who had dej)rived them of freedom. In 
Doctor Snow's History of Boston, a very interesting account 
is given of the particulars of the " Boston massacre," which 
occurred on the 5th of March, 1770; an event justly consider- 
ed as among the most striking of those acts of British tyranny 
that led to American emancipation, and which for many suc- 
cessive years was celebrated with appropriate public ceremo- 
nies. The victims of the soldiery on that occasion, (exclusive 
of the wounded,) were Crispus Attucks, Sanuiel Gray, James 
Caldwell, Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr. " The funeral 
solemnities, (says Doctor Snow,) which took place on Thurs- 
day the 8th, brought together the greatest concourse, that 
probably had ever assembled in America on one occasion. 
Attucks, who was a friendless mulatto, and Caldwell, who also 
was a stranger, were borne from Fanuiel Hall ; Maverick, 
who was about seventeen years old, from his mother's house 
in Union street, and Gray from his brother's in Royal Exchange 
lane. The four hearses formed a junction in King-street, and 
thence the procession marched in columns of six deep throu'i-h 
the main street to the middle burial ground, where the four 
victims were deposited in one grave." 

Whatever distinction of rank might have existed in life, the 
same honorable resting place received the remains of the black 
man and the white. 

At the battle of Bunker's Hill, Lieutenant Thomas Grosve- 
nor, of Pomfret, Connecticut, (in after life known as the Hon- 
orable Judge Grosvenor,) was accompanied to the field of 
action, by a faithful black servant, who gallantly fought by the 
side of his master in the hottest part of that bloody conflict. 
Col. Trumbull has em-iched his historical painting of the scene, 
by a notice of this incident. 



30 

In a statement of the gallant exploit of Lieutenant Colonel 
Barton, (of late years better known as General Barton, who 
was relieved in his old age from a long imprisonment for debt, 
by the generosity of Gen. La Fayette,) in the capture of Ma- 
jor General Prescott in Rhode Island ; we are informed that 
the Colonel provided himself Vv^ith forty picked soldiers, among 
whom was a negro man named Tom. After passing the guard 
boats and sentinels, the party approached the sleeping apart- 
ment of Gen. Prescott, the door of which they found locked. 
This circumstance might have defeated an enterprise that re- 
quired rapid action to insure success. The colored man how- 
ever, using his head, as the Doctor says, " like a battering ram," 
broke through the door, and personally seized the General in 
bed. Col. Barton had a sword presented to him and was 
much applauded for the success of this gallant affair ; we pre- 
sume that the colored soldier did not fail to share in the rewards 
bestowed on the party. His phrenological experiment is cer- 
tainly calculated to bring distrust on the opinions of Gall and 
Spurzhcim, who have expressed themselves in no very favora- 
ble terms as to African powers. 

Numerous instances might be quoted of the fidelity and 
courage displayed by negroes during the revolutionary war, 
but the very fact that the southern section of the country, 
where slaves were the most numerous, was for several years 
the theatre of military campaigns, and that the slaves resisted 
in so great a degree, the temptations of the enemy to join their 
standard, presents in itself a noble eulogium. in New Eng- 
land, where their limited numbers obviated any objections ari- 
sing from prudential considerations, to employing them as sol- 
diers, a battalion of colored men was enlisted for continental 
service, principally composed of Connecticut and Rhode Island 
negroes. It was commanded, I think, by Col. Olney. I am 
not particularly familiar with the military history of the corps. 
In an expedition, however, undertaken at the close of the war, 
(and in truth after the preliminaries to the treaty of peace had 
been signed in Europe, but not promulgated in America,) of 
which Col. Marinus Willett was commander, against Fort 
Oswego, a considerable part of the African corps was employ- 
ed. The enterprise was undertaken during the winter months 



31 

unci was extremely severe anil disastrous in its result. A wit- 
ness of their suirerin<j^s has intbrnied the writer, that when 
the surviving troops returned to the Hutlson river, many w(Me 
sufferinjjc from the effects of frost, and that amputations of 
limbs became necessary. From tiieir peculiar sensiijilily to 
the intlucMice of severe cold, the colored troops bore a large 
share of the calamities of the expedition. It thus appears 
that as well in the o])ening as the closing scene of the American 
revolution, African blood was freely poured out, and mingled 
with that of the more favored white man on the altar of liberty. 

1 should not omit, in alluding to revoUitionary events, to no. 
tice the company of Africans attached to Meigs' regiment 
raised for continental service in New Haven and its vicinity, 
and commanded by Captain David Humphreys, afterwards aid 
to GeiKjral Washington, and in later life ambassador to the 
courts of Portugal and S[)ain. The regiment, to which this 
company was attached, was one of the most efficient in the 
conthiental line, and several of the colored soldiers are still 
living. It has been mentioned to me by a gentleman, who was 
an officer of the New Haven Bank, when it had charge of the 
distribution of pensions, that the correct deportment and good 
appearance of the colored pensioners was a matter of frequent 
notice and remark, by ail those attached to the institution. 

Since the revolutionary war, many colored sailors have been 
employed both in the merchant service, and in the armed ships 
of the government, although the embarrassments growing out 
of mixed crews and the local regulations of some ports, have 
of late diminished their number. A memorable instance of 
their intrepidity and good conduct in battle, was furnished in 
the glorious fleet engagement and victory of Com. Mc Do- 
nough, on Lake Champlain. One of the American ships en- 
gaged in that important battle, was chiefly manned by colored 
sailors, and it is sufficient to add, was fought with a skill and 
bravery worthy of the glory of the day. 

But I will not amplify more on the courage or patriotism of 
Africans, unless the following illustration may be ranked under 
one or both of these heads. The writer was some 3'ears ago 
making inquiries of iMr. Granville, a colored man, chaiged 
with a diplomatic agency from the republic of Hayti to our 



OO 



government, concerning the condition of his country and the 
character of its chief, and casually observed that he had seen 
some officers of the Privateer Vengeance that was captured 
and brought into New London by the United States sloop of 
war Trumbull. "Then," replied Mr. Granville, " you have pro- 
bably seen President Boyer, as be was first Lieutenant of the 
Vengeance." 

As I did not intend to resort to apocryphal testimony to 
support my opinions, 1 have referred to no example of African 
compliance with the code of chivalry adopted by many fash- 
ionable white men in the settlement of private differences. 
Perhaps, however, as a nice sense of honor may be esteemed 
by some, as more clearly manifested therein, than by the ren- 
dition of the most faithful and perilous service to one's country, 
I will remark, that the first duel in New England was fought 
by two colored servants with a long sword ar, ! dirk. For the 
choice of these unequal weapons the combatants cast lots. 
This violation of rigid puritanical regulations was punished, as 
the historians of the event inform us, by tying the combatants 
together by the neck and heels, in which amicable position 
they were ordered to lie for twenty-four hours, or until a re- 
conciliation should take place. It was, I believe, the beginning 
and the ending of African imitation in that particular branch 
of fashion and refinement. 



No. VL 

CIVIC VIRTUES. 

Having in the preceding numbers attempted a brief illustra- 
tion of the physical and intellectual powers of Africans, with a 
view to an exhibition of their capacity for education, we shall 
close this branch of our subject by a few remarks on their civ- 
ic virtues. The fidelity and attachment of African slaves to 
humane masters, is no less notorious than singular. Indeed 
our most graphic novelists. Cooper, Miss Sedgwick and ethers, 
have agreeably diversified their pictures of American life, by 
the introduction of them in those characters, when tblineating 
the attractive features of domestic and patriarchal happiness. 



33 

The publislied travels of / aU'iant, lirucc, Dluiii^o J 'ark, Clap- 
perton, Laiuler, and other Europeans, are filled with testimoni- 
als of the humane dispositions of those Afriran tribes that have 
been least contaminated by the licentious intercourse and cor- 
rupting examples of white men. Although traveling for sci- 
entific purposes, (matters incomprehensible to ignorant tribes,) 
and therefore calculated to awaken jealousy; and although 
probably preceded by vague rumors of cruelty of disposition ; 
travelers in Africa have generally suffi^red more from self-im- 
prudence and the effects of climate than from the hostility of 
the natives. One traveler, Mungo Park, has paid a lasting 
tribute to their humane virtues, by an acknowledgment that he 
was saved from perishing by hunger, by the assiduous kindness 
of a negress, while he has shown us the delicacy of their sen- 
timents, by publishing a translation of the song with w liich they 
soothed the hours of his sickness. We are reminded in its pe- 
rusal, of the most affecting songs of Ossian. 

"The winds howled, and the rain fell: the poor white man, weary with fa- 
tigue, sits down under a tree : he has no mother to bring liim milk, no woman 
to grind his corn.'' 

Chorus by the other women : 

" Pity the poor white man : he has no mother to bring him milk, no woman to 
grind his corn." 

Toussaint Louverture, the celebrated chief of St. Domingo^ 
whatever opinion may be entertained of his military and pub. 
lie conduct, during the horrible convulsions that preceded the 
extinguishment of the white man's power in that devoted isl- 
and, is acknowledged even by his bitterest enemies, to have ex. 
hibited in an eminent degree, the virtues that adorn private and 
domestic life. That elevation to wealth and power did not ex- 
tinguish sentiments of respect and attachment, formed in the 
days of servitude, is evinced by the fact that in the reverse of 
their respective fortunes, he contributed pecuniary aid to his 
former master, for whom he had acted as a herdsman, support- 
ing him during his residence in the United States, whither he 
had fled as a place of refuge. At a sul)sequent time, two of 
the sons of Toussaint, were educated at the Polytechnic school 

of Paris, and received commissions in the national army. 

5 



34 

Whether tliese privileges were in revvartl of the civic virtues 
of the father, ov tliat prejudice of color was destroyed in France 
by the consuming fire of their revohitionary furnace, we are 
not informed. 

Instances ahnost innumerable, of humanity, generosity, fidel- 
ity, and all the civic virtues, might be cited from examples ea- 
sily gathered in our ntighboring. slave states ; but as these mor- 
al qualities may possibly be denied by some, as evidence of in- 
tellectual |)Owers, we will relieve ourselves from the labor of 
inquiry, and be content with quoting some passages from the 
writings of others. Ramsey, an author already mentioned, 
relates an affecting anecdote of Joseph Rachel, a black trader 
in Barbadoes, the substance of which is as follows. The char- 
acter of Joseph in his dealings was so upright, and his readi- 
ness to oblige his patrons so untiring, that his shop attracted 
numerous customers. In 1756 a disastrous fire consumed a 
large part of the town, reducing many from affluence to sud- 
den poverty. Joseph fortunately escaped the calamity. 
Among the sufferers, was a man, to whose family in early life 
Joseph owed obligations of gratitude for their kindness. This 
gentleman, by a careless hospitality, had embarrassed his estate, 
and as it consisted chiefly in houses, the fire completed his ruin. 
In this reverse of fortune, Joseph was not forgetful of the sen- 
timents of gratitude. As the gentleman was largely indebted 
to him, both on" bond and account, he had his books balanced, 
hghted his pipe with the bond, and with the mutilated remains 
in his hand, sought out the gentleman and presented him a re- 
ceipt in full. But the generous gratitude of Joseph did not stop 
here. A long indulgence in profuse hospitahty, could not yield 
instantly to changed circumstances and prudential considera- 
tions. A small post in the government was conferred on the 
gentleman, but economy was a lesson that he could not learn. 
In his exigencies, when his former associates called to visit him, 
his only resource w^as in his faithful friend ; nor w\as he ever 
disappointed. " Immediately, (says Ramsey,) the spermaceti 
candle, and punch, and wine of the best quality, were on the 
table, as if by magic ; and soon after Joseph's servants appear- 
ed, bringing in a neat supper, and waiting on the company. All 
this was done without a prospect of return, purely to indulge 



35 

hisgratituile, and siij^port his IViciKTscrcilit. And will any pre- 
tend, (adds the lelalcr,) to look down wilh eonleinpl on one, 
capable of such generosity, because tlie rolor of his skin is 
black?" 

Another case si ill more afferling, has been i)r(!senled by the 
same writer. It is brieliy as follows. Qiuishl, a \\ est Indian 
negro, was brought up as a play-fellow of his master, and in 
childhood, when no artificial restraints ciiecked the growth of 
the atHections, a strong attachment was mutually formed. This 
attachment continued in after life, when the play-mate of Qua- 
shi's infant years had assumed the government of his planta- 
tion, and was manifested by the slave in a devoted regard to 
his master's interests. The master was always rigid and inex- 
orable in the enforcement of the discipline established on his 
estate. Quashi at length was charged with the commission of 
some fjiult and threatened with the punishment of the cart 
whip. Hoping that the resentment of his master might sub- 
side after reflection, or that the intercession of a friend might 
procure his pardon, Quashi withdrew from the plantation to 
seek the aid of some kind advocate. The next day a feast 
was kept by his master in celebration of the birth day of a 
relative, and believing that in the good humor of the festival, 
his personal application might be sufficient to obtain forgive- 
ness, he resolved to return and solicit it. At this crisis he was 
accidentally observed, and being pursued by his master, at- 
tempted to escape. His master overtook and seized him, 
when a struggle ensued in which Quashi obtained the victory, 
and having seated himself on the breast of his exhausted an- 
tagonist, drew a knife. In this dreadful situation of his master, 
Quashi addressed him. ." Master, I was bred up with you 
from a child ; I was your play-mate when a boy ; I have loved 
you as myself; your interest has been my study ; I am inno- 
cent of the cause of your suspicion ; had I been guilty, my 
attachment to you might have pleaded for' me. Yet you have 
condemned me to a punishment, of which I must ever have 
borne the disgraceful marks; thus only can I avoid them." 
With these words, he drew the knife across his own throat, 
and fell down dead, without a groan, on his master, bathing 
him in his blood. 



36 

Truly, in the exhibition of such heroic virtue, in the impulse 
of our admiration we feel disposed not only to pardon the sui- 
cide, but even to award him the honor of mart3n*dom. 

We cannot better conclude this division of our subject than 
by a liberal extract from the writings of the accomplished Ad- 
dison. In the Spectator, No. 215, he thus remarks. " Men's 
passions operate variously, and appear in different kinds of ac- 
tions, according as they are more or less rectified and swayed 
by reason. . When one hears of negroes, who, upon the death 
of their masters, or upon changing their service, hang them- 
selves upon the next tree, as it frequently happens.in our Amer- 
ican plantations ; who can forbear admiring their fidelity, 
though it expresses itself in so dreadful a manner ? What 
might not that savage greatness of soul, which appears in these 
poor wretches on many occasions, be raised to, if rightly culti- 
vated ? And what color i' excuse can there be for the con- 
tempt wath which we tieat this part of our species? that we 
should not put them upon the common footing of humanity ; that 
we should only set an insignificant fine upon the man who 
should murder them ; nay, that we should, as much as in us 
lies, cut them off from the prosjiects of happiness in another 
world as well as in this, and deny them that which we look 
upon the proper means for attaining it ? 

" Since I am engaged on this subject, I cannot forbear men- 
tioning a story which 1 have lately heard, and which is so well 
attested that I have no manner of reason to suspect the truth 
of it. I may call it a kind of wild tragedy that passed about 
twelve years ago at St. Christopher's, one of our British Lee- 
ward Islands. The negroes, who were the persons concerned 
in it, were all of them the slaves of a gentleman who is now 
in England. - 

" This gentleman among his negroes had a young woman, 
who was looked upon as a most extraordinary beauty by those 
of her own complexion. He had at the same time two young 
fellows vC'ho were likewise negroes and slaves, remarkable for 
the comeliness of their persons, and for the friendship which 
they bore to one another. Tt unfortunately happened that both 
of them fell in love with the IVmiale negro above mentioned, 
who w^ould have been very glad. to have taken either of them 



37 

for her iiusband, provided they could agree hetween themselves 
which should be the man. Rut they were both so passionately 
in love with her, that neither of them could think of giving up 
to his rival ; and at the same time both were so true to one an- 
other, that neither of them would think of gaining her without 
his friend's consent. The torments of these; two lovers were 
the discourse of tiie family to which they belonged, who could 
not forbear observing the strange complication of passions 
which perplexed the hearts of the jioor negroes, that often 
dropped exj)ressions of the uneasiness they underwent, and 
how impossible it was for either of them to be happy. 

" After a long struggle between love and friendship, truth 
and jealousy, they one da}' toolv a walk together info a wood, 
carrying their mistress along with them ; when, after abun- 
dance of lamentations, they stabbed her to the heart, of which 
she immediately died. A slave, who was at work not far 
from the place where this astonishing piece of cruelty was 
committed, hearing the shrieks of the dying person, ran to 
see what was the occasion of them. He there discovered 
thei.' woman lying dead upon the ground, with the two ne- 
groes on each side of her, kissing the corpse, weeping over 
it, and beating their breasts in the utmost agonies of grief and 
despair. He immediately ran to the English family with the 
news of what he had seen ; who, upon coming to the place, 
saw the woman dead, and the two negroes expiring by her, 
with wounds they had given themselves. 

" We see in this amazing instance of barbarity what strange 
disorders are bred in the minds of those men whose passions 
are not regulated by virtue, and disciplined by reason. Though 
the action which -I have recited is in itself full .of guilt and 
horror, it proceeded from a temper of mind s\ hich might have 
produced very noble fruits had it been informed and guided by 
a suitable education." 

To this concluding opinion of Mr. Addison, we shall only 
add the confirmatory testiiiiony of the writer of an anonymous 
work, entitled " Six months in the West Indies, in 1825.'" 
We are informed by a gentleman formerl}' a resident in the 
West Indies, that the author is J\lr. Coleridge, nephew of the 



38 

tlien newly appointed Bishop of several of the British Islands, 
and that in pursuit of health and information, he accompanied 
his kinsman on his first Episcopal visitation of his Diocese. 
Plis book however is sufficiently commended by its wit, vivaci- 
ty and sound sense. 

Mr. Coleridge says, " We all profess an intention of ame- 
liorating the condition of the slaves, and a wish to raise them 
ultimately to an equality with the rest of the citizens of the 
empire. The dispute is about the means. Now unless we 
are infatuated by the mere sound of a word, we must acknow- 
ledge that the power of doing whatsoever a man pleases, if un- 
accompanied with some moral stimulus which shall insure h9!^- 
bitual industry and correct the profligate propensities of savage 
nature, is so far from being a step in advance that it is rather a 
stride backwards ; instead of being a blessing, it is plainly a 
curse. The body of the slave populatix)n do not at present 
possess this moral stimulus. Emancipation therefore would 
not put them in the road to become good citizens. 

" What must be done then ? manifestly this one single thing ; 
we must create a moral cause, in order to be able to abolish 
i\\G physical cause of labor ; we must bring the motives which 
induce an English rustic to labor, to beaf upon the negro ; 
when the negro peasant will work regularly like the white 
peasant, then he ought to be as free." 

Recent events in the West Indies w'lW soon enable us to de- 
termine, whether education has been sufficiently diffused and 
moral stimulants sufficiently powerful are operating among 
their slaves, to fit them for immediate emancipation. Every 
benevolent man will be gratified, if the result shall show that 
the zeal of an ardent philanthropy, has not overleaped the 
barriers of prudence. 



•No. VII. 



It may be said that we have cited but few examples bf Afri- 
can intellect, to prove the capacity of a numerous race, and 
some even of those of no very extraordinary weight. We re- 
ply, that our object has been to illustrate our positions by refer- 



riii<^ lo iiist;iiic(,'.s cliiclly giilliorcd Irom Aiiuiic.aii annals, and 
tliat claim belief from personal knowledge or autlientic tradi- 
tionary evidence, rather than to exjiiore the vast and imcertain 
field of African history. Similar examples to those that have 
been noted, with more inquiry and examination, mi<rht, with- 
out doubt, have been greatly multiplied ; but the labor of col- 
lecting the scattered memorials of an enslaved and ignorant 
race, whose virtues and native talents have only occasionallj' 
attracted the attention of the benevolent, and are to be found 
chiefly in newspapers and pamphlets, the most perishable of all 
records, added to the limits necessarily regarded in a mere es- 
say, have controlled the writer. Situated as a slave population 
must always be, even if some favored few of the number pos- 
sessed the re(iuisite opportunities and talents, to become the 
historians of their brethren, the task would have but few attrac- 
tions, and might subject those who performed it to punishment, 
as the promulgators of dangerous knowledge. Under such 
circumstances, when a single well authenticated example of 
great virtue or striking talents is exhibited, it ought, in honest 
judgment, to overbalance a thousand deficiencies ; for if with- 
out culture, we find in a wild and neglected soil, that some 
"verdure quickens," and some "salutary plants take root," 
ought we not to consider such unexpected appearances as in- 
ducements for tillage, rather than abandon the field because 
weeds, still more numerous, grow in ranker luxuriance. All 
vegetables, even those most useful for the nourishment of man, 
are comparitively, in their native state, ill favored and coarse 
in texture, and until man has performed his destined task, and 
by toil, and labor, and the sweat of his brow, brought them to 
perfection, are ill adapted for nutritious and healthy aliment. 
To continue our illustration from the vegetable and natural 
world ; the botanist no otherwise regards the soil in which 
herbs, useful in medicine or valuable in the arts, may be discov- 
ered, than as indicating their habitudes and guiding the appli- 
cation of his skill in their improvement. The miner finds the 
precious metal for which he seeks scattered in crude paiticles 
among masses of rubbish ; but when patient industry and the 
purifying furnace have performed their office, he is rewarded 



40 

by a golden harvest ; the lapidary perceives beneath the rough 
coat of some apparently worthless pebble, the brilliant gem, 
that, when polished by his skill, is destined to adorn the coronet 
of a prince or sparkle on the bosom of beauty. The philan- 
thropist, nay, the upright man, will not account ignorance as a 
fault, when the avenues to knowledge are sealed up; nor will 
he, if perchance some intellect of peculiar, energy, breaks 
through the palpable darkness that rests on unfortunate Afri- 
ca, with a cold and heartless philosophy, use its light only to 
survey with a more accurate scrutiny, the degradation of its 
origin ; he will rather exult in every new proof, that no nation 
in the great family of mankind, sprung as they all are from a 
common parentage, and fashioned in the image of their Crea- 
tor, no matter how ignorant and no matter how debased, is 
incapable of moral and intellectual elevation. A man of be- 
nevolence will not dwell on physical differences and denounce 
a nation as deficient in mental powers, because his sense of 
smell detects in them an offensive peculiarity ; a reason, by 
the bye, that if true, might sink the proud white man below 
our Indians. Major Long, in his " Expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains," mentions that some remote tribes do not use salt 
with their food, that their tears are fresh, and that they com- 
plain of a disagreeable odor that proceeds from the skin of the 
whites. 

Nor will any fair judge be led to such infallible conclusions, by 
the theories of physiognomists or phrenologists, as to reject pal- 
pable and well established testimony. He will neither map out 
the empire of intellect by a " facial line," like some, nor take 
guage of the mind by the thickness of the cranium, like others ; 
but justly reflecting, that as there be men with thick skulls, 
and men with thin skulls, and men with middling thick skulls, 
and men with middling thin skulls, who yet are not remarkable 
for talents, so there may be men of the highest grade of intel- 
lect, who of necessity must possess one or another of these 
physical formations. 

But without dwelling further on the intellectual powers of 
Africans, the writer refers the reader who is curious to pursue 
the investigation, to the admirable Treatise of H. Gregoire, 
published in 1810, a work as replete in just and benevolent 



sentiments as it is in llie fruits of ^rrcnt indnsli y :in<l profound 
learning, and in all respects wortliy of an aullior wl.o is staled 
by his American translator, D. B. Warden, l''s(|. " a man of 
great erudition and rare virtues, well known in llie rcsligions, 
political and learned societies of different countries." 

Most of the early efforts of the fri(>nds of Africa in this coun- 
try, were confined to ihe abolition of the liaffic in slaves, by 
prohibiting any further importations. Jn this office of benevo- 
Jence, the pareal society of j\-nnL^>lvania, seconded by auxilia- 
ry societies in all the states north of and including Virginia, 
were eminently successful, and at this day it is rare to find in 
Christendom, an intelligent man, professing any decent regard 
to even the elements of a lax morality, who dares 1o advocate 
the slave trade. Occupied as they were, in endeavors to check 
the further growth cff an alarming evil, they did not direct their 
energies so much to the emancipation of slaves already held in 
bondage, as to the melioration of their condition, and the difTu- 
sion of such practical knowledge as might eventually fit them 
for freedom. It is true that Quakers, who, to their honor be it 
said, are always found among the pioneers in every scheme of 
philanthropy, manumitted their slaves, and the IMethodists for 
a while made it an article in their creed of religious practice, to 
adopt the same course. To the numerous manumissions made 
by the Methodists, is owing a large portion of the free people of 
color in the slaves states. But the practical effects of this obe- 
dience to what was esteemed a moral duty, were soon visible in 
the corrupted characters of the manumitted slaves, and the con- 
tagious influence exeited by them over those in bondage. It 
was perceived, that, without education and without incentives 
to ambition, with a boundary line drawn by prejudice, but as 
impassable as if it had been established by justice, between the 
whites and the blacks, mere liberty, without change of hab- 
itation, was fruitful in crime, but rarely productive of hap]nness. 
This result of an experiment, originating in benevolence, con- 
vinced both the Methodists and others of similar sentiments, 
that different means must be adopted to meliorate the condi- 
tion, I may add, to do justice to Africans. It may be remark- 
ed in confirmation of the above, that David Raymond, Esq. of 
Baltimore, in a pamphlet published during the agitation of the 

6 



49 

Missouri question, has shown conchisively, from statistical ac- 
counts, that in proportion to their numbers our slave population 
increases more rapidly than the whites, while among the free 
blacks there is an actual decrease. This dreadful result arises 
from the appalling- influence of the worst calamities — want of 
proper food and clothing — want of employment — want of 
moral energy, and a consciousness of debasement that ren- 
ders them reckless of the future. Do we then give a boon to 
Africans by offering them unqualified liberty, when without 
previous instruction for its enjoyment, an acceptance of the 
gift must be at the sacrifice of life ? So far as personal good 
treatment and kind usage can mitigate the misery of slavery, 1 
fully believe that the lot of American slaves has been cast 
among a humane people, and instead of joining in odious de- 
nunciations against our southern brethren, 1 feel rather dispos- 
ed to sympathise with them in the existence of an evil, which 
in its inception was alike profitable to the north and the south, 
but in its result is calamitous only to the latter. There is, how- 
ever, something wanting beyond merely humane treatment, to 
reconcile us to slavery. The sting of slavery is in the mind, in 
the corroding consciousuess, that though "all men are created 
free and equal," human injustice has counteracted the benefi- 
cence of the Deity, and that our volitions and actions are arbi- 
trarily subject to the caprice and control of others. The en- 
listed soldier and sailor undergo all hardships and perils cheer- 
fully, while the conscript and impressed mariner are continually 
unhappy. The most arduous toils of the plantation, bear no 
comparison to the sufferings of an arctic voyage, but the sub- 
jugated mind sinks under the former, while the free spirit of 
the sailor gallantly bears him up with the consciousness that 
it is his duty to perform a service to which he is bound by a 
voluntary and independent pledge. 

I will not make any further allusion or answer, to the pre- 
tended sanction of religion in favor of slavery, which has been 
impiously urged by some of its apologists, than to observe, 
that throughout the scriptures slavery and liberty are used as 
strong figurative expressions to denote happiness or misery, as 
" the slavery of sin," and " the glorious liberty of the gospel." 



43 

It is true that the Almiglity hus allowed the existence of slave- 
ry as a punishment of national sins, hut the fate of Pharaoh 
and his hosts, and the plagues that visited I'^gypt, do not prove 
that the instruments of wrath are always the favorites of 
heaven. In truth, as no event can occur without divine per- 
mission, the reasoning alluded to, would form the ready justi- 
fication of every atrocious crime. 

But let us briefly examine a remedy for the existing evil, and 
ascertain if possible, whether it can be removed, having just 
regard to the rights of humanity and the ultimate happiness 
and security both of master and slave. And first, can the 
slaves be gradually or immediately emancipated and amalga- 
mate as citizens with our white population ? To this incpjiry 
facts authorize a ready answer in the negative. Some objec- 
tions have been casually mentioned in the progress of this es- 
say, to which the following may be added. 

First. In their state of ignorance produced by protracted 
slavery, they would be unable to compete with white laborers, 
or obtain means of personal support. 

Second. The aged, decrepid and helpless would become a 
severe burthen to the state, instead of being supported by mas- 
ters who had enjoyed the profits of their vigorous days. 

Third. Either the emancipated slaves must roam abroad, 
depending for support on accidental and casual employment, 
or on more desperate means. The latter would probably be a 
common resort, as hunger and want would readily persuade 
them that it was not wrong to retaliate by robbing those who 
had held the^n in unjust bondage. 

Fourth. Without being educated they would soon degenerate 
•nto a ferocious banditti, and instead of awakening the sympa- 
thy of the whites would excite their vengeance. 

Fifth. The expense of education would be too burthensome 
for the white population, even if the blacks, when left to their 
own discretion, should feel disposed to submit to the discipline 
of schools. 

Sixth. A feeling of self-degradation would deaden the ener- 
gies of the mind, and render it incapable of improvement in the 
midst of a white community. 



44 

Seventh. The coiistiUitioiis of s(;veral stales, and of the Uni- 
ted States, have denied them the privilege of the elective fran- 
chise, or (jf eligibility to political power. 

Eighth. They would be subjected to taxation, and all the 
onerous duties of citizens, without representation. 

Ninth. So far has experience shown that their condition has 
not been essentially improved by freedom, when continuing to 
reside among the whites, that in the recently modified consti- 
tutions of New York and Connecticut, they are disqualified as 
voters, although they formerly possessed the privilege. 

Tenth. They xwn prohibited by the laws of several states, 
from coming from other states to reside in their territories, even 
for the purpose of education ; nor do those laws remain as dead 
letter in the statute books, as Prudence Crandall was recently 
imprisoned for violating the Connecticut law on that subject. 

Eleventh. At one of the largest city meetings ever held in 
New Haven, specially called by the city authorities to consid- 
er the subject, resolutions of the strongest character were pas- 
sed, protesting against the scheme of establishing in the city a 
college, for the education of colored people, that had been de- 
vised by some gentlemen. It 'is not necessary to offer any 
opinion on the subject, as this case probably led to the enact- 
ment of the law under which Miss Crandall was imprisoned, 
and is referred to, only to show how strongly our most intelli- 
gent citizens are prejudiced against a mixture of the two class- 
es of population. 

Twelfth. Although in a majority of the northern states, col- 
ored men are nominally elegible to office, yet prejudice is so 
powerful, that their abstract right is worthless. An insulated 
case, however, I have understood occurred some years ago in 
New Hampshire, where a colored man was elected a member 
of the Legislature, and by the exercise of good sense and 
sound judgment, acquired considerable influence. 

Thirteenth. No amalgamation producing an unity of feeling 
and identity of interest, can take place, until difference of com- 
plexion is obliterated by intermarriages. It need hardly be said 
that this plan is not feasible, even if it were desirable. Preju- 
dices existing in relation to complexion are so strong, that the 



45 

mission siliool ;il Cornwall uiis broUcii up, in const(|Mcnc«! ol 
violations of pul)lic sensibility in that jiarticnlar. And yet the 
disrelish for Indian alliances is by no means as s(ion<^ as exists 
in regard to Africans. The Ihi/idolphs of V irginia are prond 
of the blood of PocaItoiitas,B.u(\ their white kindred do not feel 
ashamed to acknowledge the desceiuhmts o{ Kunicc M'illiam.<f. 
Mr. CU'mrford strongly conmiended the practice in an official 
report to Congress as a means of civilizing and christianizing 
the natives, and from the earliest settlement of the western 
country, the French, Spanish, and other European residents, 
were accustomed to form such alliances. Still the prejudice 
exists, and we are warranted in believing will never be con- 
quered ; but if unconquerable with regard to Indians, how re- 
mote from possibility in relation to Africans. 

Fourteenth. So impassable is the barrier erected by public 
sentiment between those of different complexions, that they 
cannot repose in the same bed, drink from the same cup, or 
eat at the same table ; nay, beyond all this, it is found even in 
the regulations of our sanctuaries of worship ; for although 
worshiping the same God and equal participants in the blood 
of the same Redeemer, they occupy separate seats during the 
ordinary service, and do not mingle even in the celebration of 
the sacramental supper. At a camp meeting in one of the 
slaves states, I once observed a singular arrangement, with re- 
gard to the fenced inclosure designed to receive converts. It 
is usually styled, in the figurative language of the scriptures, 
the sheep pen, alluding to the separation of the sheep from the 
goats. On the occasion referred to, there were two inclosures, 
one for white, the other for colored converts. And yet this ar- 
rangement was made by Methodists, a sect of christians, (per- 
haps, with the exception of Quakers,) less restrained by cere- 
mony, and, if the expression is allow^able, more democratic in 
their worship than any other denomination. In the particular 
case alluded to, they w^ere undoubtedly influenced by public 
sentiment or prejudice. The anecdote related of Mr. Haines? 
the colored clergyman of Vermont, who has already been spo- 
ken of as an able preacher, is similar in illustration. It is said, 
that among the grounds of dissatisfaction, that produced event- 
ually a separation from his first pastoral charge, his comjjlex- 



46 

ion was urged as an objection against him. When this was 
mentioned to iiim by one of his friends, he cahnly observed 
that he had been settled over the parish for nearly twenty years 
and it was surprising that the congregation had just then dis- 
covered that he was a colored man. Without vouching for 
the entire accuracy of the anecdote, it may be remarked, that 
if it be true, the growth of the place, and more intercourse with 
the world, had affected them with pride and prejudice un- 
known in their infant simplicity. 



No. VIII. 

Another obstacle in the way of those who embark in the 
cause of Africans, is not very creditable to human nature ; but 
its existence must be acknowledged, I should think, by every 
candid man. The cause of colonization is simply based on 
benevolence and justice, and therefore receives a lukewarm sup- 
port. It is lacking in the glare, the pomp, the artificial pa- 
geantry, that belong to charities regulated by the fashions of 
polished life. We can read with intense interest the history of 
Caspar Hauser, the German youth, who had been inhumanly 
buried from his infancy in a narrow dungeon ; — we can phi- 
losophize on the gradual developement of faculties thus cruelly 
shrouded in darkness ; we can applaud the generosity of Lord 
Stanhope, in becoming his patron, and we can weep over the 
account of his assassination, — perhaps Caspar was born a no- 
bleman ! We can peruse with eager avidity the account of 
the wild man of Poland, and of him who was discovered in 
the forest of Orleans in France ; the deaf, the dumb, and the 
blind, all awake, and justly too, our sympathy, and stimulate 
our generosity ; we can accompany Dugald Stewart in his 
philosophic investigations into the extent and nature of their 
remaining mental powers ; — we feel an interest in the fate and 
actions of the girl in the Hartford Assylum, who is the unfor- 
tunate victim of those combined calamities ; we can greet al- 
most with civic honors, the warrior Black Hawk, with his 
scalping knife hardly yet cleansed from the blood of his vic- 
tims, — but he is a sachem ; nay, we can go farther, we can 



open our purses ami contribute liberally to i)urchase tli(! froo- 
dom of Hamet Abduhl, a colored man, and his family, from 
their master in Tennessee, because forsooth, it was discovered 
in his old age, and after years of servitude, that he was born 
an African Prince, and was entitled by lineal descent, to a cor- 
onet in his native land. These matters are alluded to, in no 
spirit of splenetic censure, for they do not deserve it ; but to 
show how much more eager we are, to pursue schemes of os- 
tentatious and fashionable benevolence, than to expend our 
means in simple obedience to christian duty. Although wo 
know and ought to believe that when our our alms are " given 
in secret," the God who seeth in secret, will reward us open- 
ly ; yet as if distrustful of the promise, we seem anxious to 
secure some proof, by letting " the left hand know what the 
right hand doeth ;"' and to make certain in any ev{>nt, of some 
temporal applause, are too prone, to " sound a trumpet before 
us," " as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, 
that they may be seen of men." The extent of this spirit is 
manifested by the fact, that in our best and most importa^it 
institutions of benevolence, rank and station are held out as 
lures, and the highest offices may be purchased, without regard 
to fitness or other considerations, by paying established })rices. 
However pardonable such practices may be in works of chari- 
ty, it must be confessed, that it savors somewdiat of the doc- 
trine of Hohhs, " that the end justifies the means," and evi- 
dently shows a decided preference of the rich man's gift, to 
the widow's mite. Such usage in ecclesiastical concerns would 
be called " simony ;" in the business of a lawyer, " champerty 
and maintenance ;" and in political transactions, " bribery and 
corruption." It is believed, however, that even pride, that 
questionable stimulant of true charity, will not long be want- 
ing to further the cause of colonization. As literature and the 
arts begin to expand and flourish in Liberia, as books and 
newspapers, well conducted by colored editors, like Russworm 
and others, begin to disclose the resources of an embryo em. 
pire, and perchance, so spread a knowledge of the ncanes and 
good deeds of their American benefactors among the distant 
and unknown regions of Africa ; it is not improbable, that our 
vanity may be awakened, and that an emulous ambition may 



48 

spur us onward with more eagerness in the path of duty, 
Tlien and then only, when honors begin to flow from African 
applause, will prejudice begin to melt away. When that time 
arrives, a philanthropist like John Hancock, the President of 
the immortal Congress that declared our independence, may 
witness with benevolent feehngs, the pastimes of negroes, with- 
out exciting the ridicule of the witty editors of the " Echo," or 
subjecting himself to the satire of their caricature engravers ; 
these gifted men, like Randolph of Roanoke, whatever may be 
the faults and eccentricities of their characters, will at least, 
not incur as he did, the sneers of heartless witlings, for honor- 
ing with his confidence the warm attachment and tried fidelity 
of Juha. So long however, as the Africans continue to dwell 
in the land of their captors, I am persuaded that such " a hap- 
py issue out of their calamities" will not take place. Their 
ingathering and their New Jerusalem must be in the land of 
their fathers. If emancipated, in the grossness of their igno- 
rance, and doomed to the continual irritations of the white 
man's contempt, I doubt not they would soon, not only realize 
the premises, but adopt the desperate conclusions of Shylock : 
" I am a Jew : hath not a Jew eyes 1 hath not a Jew hands, 
organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the 
same food, hurt by the same weapons, subject to the same dis- 
eases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the 
same winter and summer, as a Christian is ? if you prick us, 
do we not bleed ? if you tickle us, do we not laugh ? if you 
poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not 
revenge ? if we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you 
in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? 
revenge ; if a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his suffer- 
ance be by Christian example ? why, revenge. The villainy 
you teach me, I will execute ; and it shall go hard, but I will 
better the instruction." 

Shakspeare does not put this language in the mouth of a legal 
slave, let us remember, but of one whose social feelings were 
destroyed and his heart hardened by unjust prejudice. Equal- 
ity, not nominal, but real and acknowledged, and exemphfied 
in practice as well as based on right, is essential to the eleva- 
tion of the character of man. Let us illustrate the position a 
little farther. 



The human iniml will rarely strugfrle lor superiority where 
success is ahnost imi)ossible, and yet none are so degraded by 
circumstances, as to he beyond the inciten)ents of ambition 
when stimulated by liope. New Holland was lor many years 
the corrupt sink into which the felony of England was annu- 
ally drained off, — a loathsome Golgotha, filled with the amjin- 
tated refuse of society. To the astonishment of those who 
looked on it as the abandoned field of moral desolation, it has 
recently begun to exhibit the aspect of a vigorous and enlight- 
ened colony, flourishing in agriculture, trade, maimfactures 
and the artsj regulated by a rigid but salutary police, encoura- 
ging industry, and attracting to its shores by its advantages, 
the emigration of the virtuous, the enterprising, and the weal- 
thy. What, we inquire, has produced this wonderful result ? 
Equality, and that alone, is the magic charm ; for liberty with- 
out equality is but as " sounding brass, and a tinkling cym- 
bal." Equality of rights, of hopes ; nay, of degradation, of 
crimes ! equality, that silenced reproach, because all deserved 
it, has raised the felon colony of Botany Bay to rank and 
consideration. It was the same equality, that, in ancient days, 
enabled Romulus to attract to his standard a barbarian horde, 
composed of the proscribed and fugitive criminals of all na- 
tions, and to lay the foundations of imperial Rome. 

Do not these examples show, that consciousness of equahty 
is the true mode to elevate men in the scale of dignity, and 
are they not animating incentives to the friends of coloniza- 
tion, the wisest and best friends, I do sincerely believe, of the 
African race? In their case, experiments are not made on 
criminals selected for their atrocity. No military guard and 
severe task-masters are placed over them, to aggravate the 
pains of exile ; no vindictive eye watches their movements, — 
but cherished and fostered by an atoning humanity, that seeks 
to obliterate the memory of past injustice by deeds of kindness, 
the knowledge and protecting power of the white man, be- 
come, in a sense, tributary to the wants of the black. Na}-, 
beyond all this, they are placed in possession of the heritage 
of their fathers, the natives around them are of their own 
blood, and their own color, to whom, after the lapse of many 

7 



50 

generations, they return, bringing with them from distant 
climes, arts, science, civihzation and rehgion. 

When we view the progress already made, with comparative- 
ly feeble means, in the great work of colonization, and consid- 
er the present favorable condition of Liberia, we cannot deem 
it beyond the limits of liuman probability, and certainly not 
beyond the limits of fervent and confiding hope, that at no 
very remote period in the history of the world, Africa, " re- 
deemed, regenerated, and disenthralled," will take an equal 
and just rank in the family of mankind ,- that, roused from the 
death-like sleep of ages, vigorous in the growth of every vir- 
tue that adds dignity to character, and rich in every treasure 
that can conduce to human happiness, the descendants of a 
despised and degraded race, will enter the field of intellectual 
competition with the most favored of the world. Wlien that 
period arrives, we can well imagine with what enthusiasm and 
outpourings of gratitude, days set apart in their national cal- 
endar to perpetuate the memory of the benevolent advocates 
of their race, in the gloom of their captivity, will be celebrated. 
But I cannot but believe, that even in their aspirations of gra- 
titude, they would mourn over the delusions of those misled 
zealots, w^ho had persuaded a remnant of their brethren to re- 
fuse the gift of mental emancipation, by remaining in the land 
of captivity, nominally free, but in degradation worse than 
slaves. 

But against all these suggestions of humanity and duty, the 
appalling objection is urged ; — the plan of colonization may be 
benevolent, but the resources of the country are inadequate to 
ils accompUshment. Is this objection so truly formidable that 
it ought to arrest our efforts, or is it not the offspring of timid 
apprehension, or of covert hostility ? That the colonization of 
2,000,000 of slaves must be a matter, of great expense, is obvi- 
ous ; but that it is not feasible, is denied. 

1st. For many years the annual importations for the supply 
of the British American colonies, before the abolition of the 
trade, was 100,000 per annum. A much smaller effort to ad- 
vance the cause of justice, than has been shown in the pursuits* 
of avarice, would soon greatly mitigate the evil in tlin United 
States, and eventually eradicate it. 



51 

2(1. Tl)e expense of pmchast" would he- .saved, as suHicient 
numbers could he obtained by voluntary emancipation. 

3d. The maritime power of the nation could be employed in 
the protection of the colony if necessary, without any addi- 
tion to public expenditures, and the national treasury, that will 
soon be relieved from any debt, might e(|uitably aid in atoning 
for injustice, in the guilt of which the whole nation is involved. 
4th. If the colony became nourishing and prosperous, every 
year vvould increase the motives for emigration among our 
colored population ;— the desire to join their kindred in a hap- 
pier region,— the incitements of gain,— of honorable ambition 
based on independence, — the love of political power, the fu- 
ture prospects of their children, and in short, every considera- 
tion that can affect the liuman mind. 

5th. Pride would stimulate many to earn, by greater indus- 
try, the means of removal and final settlernent, independent of 
the aid of others. 

6th. In a few years, Liberia itself might so increase its ship- 
ping, as to become carriers of their emigrating kindred. 

7th. As the first emigrants would be composed of the heal- 
thy and vigorous, a check to domestic increase vvould take 
place, and as the aged and decrepid died off, there would be a 
reduced number of children to supply their numbers. 

8th. Thus far, no desolating wars or sweeping diseases have 
retarded the growth of the colony; and as no prejudice of 
complexion exists to provoke hostility, and their superior intel- 
ligence is salutary to the surrounding tribes, little is to be appre- 
hended from the former, while they readily overcome the tem- 
porary influence of the climate. 

9th. They will emigrate to a region far better adapted to 
their present safety and comfort, than the wilds of America 
were to the first European settlers, and instead of being driven 
there by a persecuting spirit, be led thither by kind and benev- 
olent protectors, and fostered in their political infancy by th(?ir 
power. 

10th. An emigration to any new country is always attended 
with expense and hardship, but such facts should not deter us 
from the path of duty. Although Perm is said to have died in 
prison, he left to the State that he founded, a noble legacy in 



52 

his example, and his iiaiiic and his vutues will live in imper- 
ishable remembrance. 

11th. Moral results favorably affecting American commerce 
may rationally be expected. The many endearing ties arising 
from kindred will keep alive an attachment to America during 
the progress of emancipation, and a grateful sense of volunta- 
ry reparation, will obliterate the recollection of past injustice. 

12th. The attachment of colored men to nautical pursuits^ 
has been already incidentally mentioned ; if examples were 
necessary, reference might be made to the success of Paul 
Cuffee, Prince Sanders and others. This circumstance would 
be important in furthering the interests of the colony. 

13th. It is not improbable from the above brief considera. 
tions, that a profitable and favored commerce may eventually 
be established between America and Africa, and that for the 
expenditures of justice we may ultimately reap the fourfold re- 
turns of charity. 

We conclude our remarks by expressing a fervent wish, 
that the day may not be far distant, when many African bards 
may wake the notes of gratulation and praise, in heartfelt 
compliment to their American friends ; and if need be, that 
like Francis Williams, the black poet of Jamaica, in his ode 
addressed to George Holdane, Esq. the Governor, they may 
be able to clothe their sentiments in Latin, the scientific lan- 
guage of all nations. 

" Hoc dsmum accipias multa fuligine fusmi), 
Ore souaturo ; non cute, cordc valet. 
Pollenti stabilita manu, Deus almus, eandeni, 
Omnigenis animam, nil probibente dedit. 
Ipsa coloris egens virtus, prudentia ; lionesto 
Nullus inest animo, nullus in arte color.'' 

AS TRANSLATED. 

" Yet may you deign to accept this huniblc song, 

Tho' wrapt in gloom, and. from a falt'ring tongue ; 

Tho' dark the stream on which the tribute flows, 

Not from the skin, but from the heart it rose. 

To all of human kind, benignant heaven, 

(Since nought forbids) one common soul has given, 

This rule was 'stablished by the eternal mind ; 

Nor virtue's self, nor prudence are confin'd. 

To eolor ; none imbues tho honest heart ; 

To science none belongs, and none to art," <Sa; 

















;^^ 
















.4°. 



■^ 









^^ 




























%. 







.<P \'^^\/ 'V'^^'/ \'^!^'4 




■"-.,^* 






%.** 



.<^ > 




'Siiiii 



ifiliilliil 



iilliil 

;:,iii!lli!;!t,li]S(!|i;jiSiiiii: 



iiiiiiiiir - 



'iiii ![ ! !i ill !i; i ii i;v 




iliil^^^^^^^^ 



uUii;^uiiiiu.,iii>!ii:liUuii;.4iii>iii!iltiiiiy»iiiiiliiii>i,iiiii^ 



